Will the Exclusive Remedy continue to condone murder or will G4S/ArmorGroup finally be held responsible for the murders of Paul McGuigan and Darren Hoare?????

WARNINGS ABOUT KILLER OF SCOT WENT UNHEEDED  October 1, 2012

ArmorGroup put the gun in his hand knowing that he was troubled

CONTROVERSIAL security firm G4S ignored warnings not to employ an armed guard in Iraq who went on to murder two of his colleagues, it has been claimed.

Danny Fitzsimons was sentenced to at least 20 years in an Iraqi prison last year for killing Scot Paul McGuigan and Australian Darren Hoare in Baghdad in 2009.The parents of Paul McGuigan, 37, have now called for G4S ArmorGroup to face criminal charges for failing to heed the warnings and sending Fitzsimons to Iraq.Now a new BBC Scotland documentary has revealed that G4S was warned not to employ Fitzsimons, who was suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and had been fired by a previous security contractor for punching a client.It emerged that a whistleblower sent two e-mails to the London-based company, which operates as Armorgroup in Iraq, expressing concerns that Fitzsimons’ unstable behaviour made him unsuitable to be handling weapons in a war zone.

The first e-mail, revealed in tonight’s BBC Scotland Investigates: Britain’s Private War programme, reads: “I am alarmed that he will shortly be allowed to handle a weapon and be exposed to members of the public. I am speaking out because I feel that people should not be put at risk.”And in a second e-mail, sent as 32-year-old Fitzsimons was about to start work in Baghdad, the whistleblower adds:“Having made you aware of the issues regarding the violent criminal Danny Fitzsimons, it has been noted that you have not taken my advice and still choose to employ him in a position of trust.

“I have told you that he remains a threat and you have done nothing.”Paul McGuigan’s mother, Corinne Boyd-Russell, from Innerleithen, in Peebleshire, said: “Fitzsimons fired the bullets. But the gun was put in his hand by G4S ArmorGroup.“I want G4S to be charged with corporate manslaughter and be held accountable for what they did.”The parents of Fitzsimons were also shocked to hear about the existence of the e-mails.Mother Liz Fitzsimons, from Manchester, said: “The people who we feel are responsible, who we hold responsible for putting that gun in Danny’s hand, are without a shadow of a doubt G4S.”The news comes just months after the UK Government was forced to call in 1,200 troops to police the Olympic Games venues after G4S failed to provide enough staff.

The firm recently won a £20million contract to manage the electronic tagging of Scottish offenders.

A spokesman for G4S said: “Although there was evidence that Mr Fitzsimons falsified and apparently withheld material information during the recruitment process, his screening was not completed in line with the company’s procedures.

“Our screening processes should have been better implemented in this situation, but it is a matter of speculation what, if any, role this may have played in the incident.”

American Civilian Contractor Killed, three wounded, in Green on Blue in Eastern Afghanistan

Rueters

while three other U.S. citizens and one Afghan were wounded, police spokesman Wali Mohammad said on Sunday.

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) — Two Americans and three Afghan soldiers died in a firefight that may have involved insurgent forces, the International Security Assistance Force said Sunday.

One of the U.S. deaths was a soldier; the other, a civilian, U.S. officials said.

NATO soldier, civilian contractor killed by Afghan soldier

A NATO soldier, a NATO civilian contractor and several Afghan soldiers were killed by an Afghan soldier on Saturday in eastern Afghanistan, the latest in growing number of the so-called “green-on-blue” insider attacks in the country, the NATO said Sunday.

“An International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) service member and an ISAF civilian contractor died following a suspected insider attack in eastern Afghanistan yesterday,” the NATO-led coalition or ISAF said in a statement.

“It is also known that there were Afghan National Army (ANA) casualties,” it said, adding “a joint ANA and ISAF assessment is underway.”

The brief statement did not disclose the nationalities of the victims and the exact place of the incident under ISAF policy.

Troops mainly from U.S. have been stationed within the 100,000 strong NATO-led ISAF forces in eastern Afghan provinces.

Please read the entire article here at China.org

Veterans Day 2012 Poster Available

THANK YOU VETERANS

Click here to go to Veterans Day Poster Gallery

VA Cost of Living Increase Blocked in the Senate by “unknown” Senator

Our guess, and it’s only a guess is Johnny Isakson

 Bergmann and Moore  September 27, 2012

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112hr4114eh/pdf/BILLS-112hr4114eh.pdf

After passing the House of Representatives, the Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) increase for VA benefits was blocked in the Senate by an unknown Senator, according to Senate staffers who alerted Bergmann & Moore.

The Veterans COLA affects a number of key benefits for veterans: disability compensation, pension as well as survivor benefits. The uncontroversial bill adjusts VA benefits to keep up with inflation and easily passes Congress each year.

Until now.

Paul Sullivan, a Gulf War veteran and Director of Veterans Outreach for Bergmann & Moore, LLC, a law firm concentrating on VA disability law, said, “This secret hold is unconscionable: it will take up to $500 next year out of the wallets of disabled veterans and their families: money they need to pay their rent and put food on the table for their children.”

According to a statement this afternoon from Senator Patty Murray, Chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, blocking the bill will reduce benefits starting in January for 3.9 million veterans and their survivors.

Please read the entire post at Bergmann and Moore

Annual October 1 Increase in AWW (Section 10(f))

Effective October 1, 2012 through September 30, 2013 the national average weekly wage will be

$1,325.18

This is up by 2.31%

which is an increase of

$29.98

per weekover this years AWW of

$1,295.20

NAWW Information from the Department of Labor LHWCA

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, CTE, due to lack of Diagnoses and Early Treatment of Traumatic Brain Injury, TBI

“But we may be able to learn that early treatment of the initial acute [brain] injury may avoid this cascade from brain injury to CTE.”

As a civilian contractor you will be denied early treatment by the insurance company.  The liability for this further injury is with the Defense Base Act Insurance Company, CNA leading the way.  

David Woods The Huffington Post  September 20, 2012

WASHINGTON — Almost a quarter million American troops diagnosed with traumatic brain injury are at risk of developing a degenerative disease that causes bursts of anger and depression and can lead to memory loss, difficulty walking and speaking, paranoia and suicide, according to military researchers.

At present, medical officials cannot diagnose or prevent the disease, called Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, and there is no known treatment for it, said Army Col. Dallas Hack, director of the Army’s Combat Casualty Care Research Program.

But researchers are hot on the trail of new procedures to detect and diagnose the disease, and there is hope that early detection of brain injury among troops exposed to blasts from improvised explosive devices in Afghanistan could prevent them from falling victim to CTE.

“We don’t fully understand the incidence of CTE with the occurrence of traumatic brain injury,” said Air Force Lt. Col. Randall McCafferty, chief of neurosurgery at the San Antonio Military Medical Center. “But we may be able to learn that early treatment of the initial acute [brain] injury may avoid this cascade from brain injury to CTE.”

Please read the entire post here

Civilian Contractor, Kyrgyz national, killed in Afghanistan

The Voice of Russia  September 18, 2012

A Kyrgyz national died in a terrorist attack in Afghanistan earlier today, according to the Russian Embassy in Kabul.

The authorities are now checking up on the number of those injured.

Eight South African Civilian Contractors killed in Afghanistan Blast named

SHOUT  September 19, 2012

The SA government releases the names of those tragically killed in Kabul.

Permission was obtained from their families.

They are:

Christian Johannes Justus PRETORIUS, aged 30, Pretoria, Gauteng

Fraser Angus CAREY, aged 31, Johannesburg, Gauteng

Brandon Quinn BOOTH, aged 47 , Balgowan, KwaZulu-Natal

Johan Abraham VAN HUYSSTEEN, aged 31, Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape

Johan Frederick BOUCHAUD, aged 30, Johannesburg, Gauteng

Johannes Judenis HUMPHRIES, aged 65, Centurion, Gauteng

Steven LEONG, aged 31, Johannesburg, Gauteng

Jenny Margaret AYRIS,aged 46, Scotland, United Kingdom

We remember them, we mourn their passing and we will never forget them. Rest in Peace. SHOUT

Jeni Ayris,South African Civilian Contractor of Edinburgh, killed in Afghanistan Attack

SOUTH AFRICAN born Jeni Ayris, who lived in Edinburgh, was killed in the blast in Kabul.

The Daily Record  September 19, 2012

A WOMAN who was killed in a suicide bomb attack in Afghanistan was due to return home this week.

Jeni Ayris, 46, who was born in South Africa but held a British passport, died in the blast in the capital, Kabul, yesterday, when a female insurgent drove a car full of explosives into a minibus carrying mainly foreign workers.

Her friend, Kirsten Bennett, from the Isle of Mull, said Ms Ayris was expected to return to Edinburgh this weekend.

Ms Ayris worked as a customer relations manager for South African aviation company ACS/BalmOral.

In a statement, the firm said: “ACS/BalmOral is deeply saddened by the loss of the lives of some of our staff in Kabul, Afghanistan, due to a suicide bombing attack that occurred on September 18.

“We are in the process of notifying the next of kin and our main focus now remains with the families of the innocent victims who tragically lost their lives. Our prayers and thoughts are with them and all our staff remaining in Kabul.”

Ms Ayris lived in the Morningside area of the Scottish capital for about 17 years.

She was born in the Durban region of South Africa, but left the country many years ago and had dual citizenship with the UK.

Ms Ayris ran a South African themed cafe in the Tollcross area of Edinburgh, Ndebele, for about a decade.

Please read the entire article here

14 killed in Afghanistan suicide attacks targeting foreigners includes Eight South Africans

CBS/AP KABUL, Afghanistan

Two separate suicide attacks in Afghanistan – both aimed at foreign workers or military forces, left at least 14 civilians dead and three U.S. troops wounded on Tuesday, according to Afghan officials.

The wreck of tje minibus in which eight South African airport contractors were killed in the suicide blast. Photograph: Keystone USA-Zuma/Rex Features

The U.S.-led military coalition in Afghanistan, ISAF, confirmed only that a suicide bomber wearing an explosives vest attacked in the Kunar province’s Watahpur district, wounding three foreign troops.

A senior Afghan security official tells CBS News that the bomber walked into a group of American soldiers and local residents who had gathered for a ceremony launching work on a new bridge. He said the ISAF troops wounded were Americans, and an Afghan civilian was also killed in the blast.

Earlier Tuesday, a suicide bomber rammed a car packed with explosives into a mini-bus carrying foreign aviation workers to the airport in the Afghan capital, killing at least 13 people in an attack that a militant group said was revenge for an anti-Islam film that ridicules the Prophet Muhammad.

A senior Kabul police official tells CBS News the dead include eight South Africans, four Afghan nationals and one person from Kyrgyzstan. Many of the victims were employees of an aviation company, including pilots. Two sources have told CBS News separately that the victims of the attack worked for a company contracted to fly U.S. State Department staff within Afghanistan, Aviation Charter Solutions (ACS),

Tierney and Cummings Seek Administration Help on Legislation to Save Taxpayers Billions on Insuring Federal Contractors Overseas

“IT”S TIME TO FIX THIS PROGRAM”

Washington, DC (Sept. 11, 2012)— September 17, 2012

Today, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Rep. John F. Tierney, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on National Security, Homeland Defense and Foreign Operations, sent a letter to the Office of Management and Budget requesting support for, and input on, H.R. 5891, The Defense Base Act Insurance Improvement Act of 2012.

“This is a common-sense bill that would save the American taxpayers billions of dollars,” said Tierney. “Numerous government audits have concluded that we are paying too much for workers’ compensation insurance for overseas government contractors, and that these workers aren’t getting what they deserve. It’s time to fix this program.”

The legislation would transition the existing Defense Base Act (DBA) insurance program to a government self-insurance program. According to a 2009 Pentagon study, this change could save as much as $250 million a year. The study found: “In the long run, the self-insurance alternative may have the greatest potential for minimizing DBA insurance costs, and it has several administrative and compliance advantages as well.”

“We are sponsoring this legislation because several audits of the current DBA program have documented enormous unnecessary costs incurred by taxpayers,” Cummings and Tierney wrote.

The existing system has been a boondoggle for private insurance companies, which have reaped enormous profits under the program. According to an Oversight Committee investigation, insurance companies providing DBA insurance in Iraq and Afghanistan have made enormous underwriting profits that are significantly higher than those of traditional workers’ compensation insurers.

The letter from Tierney and Cummings requests support for the legislation and notes that “OMB may be evaluating similar options.”

At Least One Civilian Contractor Wounded in Camp Bastion Attack

In addition to the two U.S. Marines killed in the assault, eight military members and one civilian contractor were wounded.

Attackers in Afghanistan Wore US Uniforms  September 17, 2012

International coalition officials say the insurgents who attacked a British military base in Afghanistan Friday, killing two U.S. Marines, were dressed in U.S. Army uniforms and were armed with automatic rifles, rocket propelled grenade launchers and suicide vests.

The coalition said in a statement Sunday the 15 militants were organized into three teams and “executed a well-coordinated attack” against the airfield on Camp Bastion in Helmand province.

The alliance say the attackers destroyed six Harrier jets and “significantly damaged” two more. The militants also destroyed three coalition refueling stations and damaged six aircraft hangars.

International troops killed 14 of the insurgents and wounded one, who is in custody. Earlier reports said 18 militants died in the attack.

In addition to the two U.S. Marines killed in the assault, eight military members and one civilian contractor were wounded.

As many as Five “Other Americans” wounded, Camp Bastion Southern Afghanistan

KABUL Reuters  September 14, 2012

Two U.S. Marines were killed and other Americans were wounded on Friday during a Taliban attack on a base in southern Afghanistan where Britain’s Prince Harry is stationed, U.S. officials told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

A U.S. official told Reuters that an initial report estimated five Americans were wounded but added that the extent of their injuries was unclear. The official said that this was only an initial report and that the number could change.

Crighton said the attack took place between 9 p.m. and midnight on Friday and that NATO-led forces were still securing the area in and around Camp Bastion.

Civilian Contractor Tyrone Woods, US Navy SEAL, Killed in Libya Embassy Attack

CNN  September 14, 2012

Tyrone Woods became a Navy SEAL after his mother suggested he join the military. Friday afternoon, Cheryl Croft Bennett will attend a ceremony to honor the life of her son Ty and grieve his loss after his death along side three other Americans in Tuesday’s assault on the U.S. consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi.

Woods, who had retired from the Navy, handled security for diplomats and perished with fellow former SEAL Glen Doherty, computer expert Sean Smith and U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens

On Thursday, a U.S. official confirmed Woods was among the dead. “Tyrone’s friends and colleagues called him ‘Rone,’ and they relied on his courage and skill, honed over two decades as a Navy SEAL,” said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a statement.

“In uniform, he served multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Since 2010, he protected American diplomatic personnel in dangerous posts from Central America to the Middle East. He had the hands of a healer as well as the arm of a warrior, earning distinction as a registered nurse and certified paramedic. All our hearts go out to Tyrone’s wife Dorothy and his three sons, Tyrone Jr., Hunter, and Kai, who was born just a few months ago.”

Please read more here

Civilian Contractor, Former Navy SEAL Glen Doherty killed in Libya Embassy Attack

The 42-year-old was part of private security detail and was protecting Ambassador Chris Stevens; also worked against proselytizing by troops

New York Daily News  August 13, 2012

A former Navy SEAL from Massachusetts was identified Thursday as one of the four Americans killed in the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Libya on the 11th anniversary of 9/11.

Glen Doherty, 42, of Winchester, Mass., was working a security detail in the volatile nation when he was killed Tuesday, The Boston Globe reported.

“I never thought he’d be another victim of 9/11,” his sister Katie Quigley told the newspaper. Doherty arrived in Libya just six days before his death in Benghazi.

Doherty was protecting Ambassador Chris Stevens and aiding the wounded after the consulate was blasted with rocket propelled grenades during a four-hour firefight, Quigley said.

Stevens and 10-year diplomatic veteran Sean Smith were also killed in the attack. A fourth victim of the attack remains unidentified.

Doherty was a lifelong thrill seeker whose past included stints as a ski instructor and at a flight school.

He spent seven years in the Navy, and belonged to a group that fought against religious proselytizing by U.S. troops.

He left military service to join a company that provides security for U.S. officials overseas, his sister said.

Since going into the security business, Doherty was sent back to Iraq and Afghanistan — and worked in Israel and Kenya, his sister told the Globe.

The family received word of his death on Wednesday afternoon.

igley said she believed the attack was not prompted by an anti-Islamic movie but was premeditated and timed to coincide with Sept. 11.

“Glen was highly trained,” she said. “He was the best of the best. He wouldn’t have gone down for some protest over a movie. This was serious, well-planned, well-executed.”

Please see the original and read more here